LAS VEGAS — Needing a bounce-back win after Wednesday’s controversial loss at Grand Canyon tightened the conference race, San Diego State went to its foolproof slump buster:
Red uniforms.
It wasn’t always this way. A decade ago, the reds were unceremoniously retired after players politely requested that they no longer wear them following a string of historically dreadful performances.
But they were quietly brought back during Brian Dutcher’s tenure as head coach, and now the Aztecs can’t lose in them.
They improved to 4-0 this season and 9-0 under Dutcher with Saturday’s 82-71 win at UNLV before a CBS national television audience that had the Rebels, riding a three-game win streak and the positive vibes from Tuesday’s upset at Utah State, literally and figuratively seeing red.
That kept the Aztecs (14-5, 8-1) alone atop the Mountain West and reduced the number of teams with two losses from five to four, dropping the Rebels to 5-3. Another will have three losses with New Mexico and Nevada, both 6-2, playing later Saturday in Albuquerque, N.M.
The more tangible reason the Aztecs prevailed, though, was Miles Byrd, who suddenly started draining 3s from anywhere and everywhere, finishing with 23 points on 7 of 8 shooting overall and, yes, 5 of 5 behind the arc after going 0 of 6 just three days earlier in Phoenix.
The biggest of those 3s came with 5½ minutes left … and the Rebels having closed an 11-point deficit to seven … and fans in the Thomas & Mack Center sensing a comeback … and shot clock expiring.
Byrd had the ball near the scorer’s table, a good 35 feet from the basket.
Launch.
Arc.
Swish.
On their next possession, they lost the ball, stole it back and Reese Dixon-Waters tipped it to Pharaoh Compton for a dunk.
With 1:36 left and the Aztecs up 13, UNLV coach Josh Pastner took a page out of New Mexico coach Eric Olen’s analytics book and intentionally fouled Aztecs forward Miles Heide, a 36.1% career free-throw shooter.
Just as he did a week earlier with 56 seconds in a two-point game against New Mexico, Heide made both.
With 1:36 left, frustrations really boiled over for the Rebels. Howie Fleming Jr. shoved Taj DeGourville in the throat, a play that was reviewed by the officials and upgraded to a flagrant foul. Players from both teams were jawing and had to be separated as they left the floor.
San Diego State guard Taj Degourville (24) tries to steal the ball from UNLV forward Jacob Bannarbie (10) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
DeGourville and Dixon-Waters each had 13 points, and Heide added nine on a day when leading scorer BJ Davis didn’t score in a season-low 13 minutes.
The Aztecs shot a blistering 56.5%, 8 of 13 behind the arc and 22 of 26 at the line.
The Rebels, who got 27 points from Illinois transfer Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, shot 51% themselves but were 12 of 22 at the line, including 2 of 10 by freshman Tyrin Jones.
The anthem singer was off-key, and so were the Aztecs for the game’s opening minutes.
They missed their first six shots and didn’t make one – by Elzie Harrington the lane after rebounding a miss – until 5:05 had elapsed.
And then … made practically everything.
The Aztecs closed the first half 11 of 15 shooting (5 of 7 on 3s), which included several contested by Dixon-Waters and three 3s by Byrd.
They also were 12 of 13 at the line and would have led by more than five had they not had eight turnovers and had the officials called a goaltend on a Jaco Bannarbie’s tip on the rim in the half’s closing seconds.
But the Aztecs had the ball to open the second half and ran a play for a corner 3 for Byrd – good.
The margin got to eight, then shrunk to two, then grew to 10 behind some clutch baskets by DeGourville, largely a forgotten man this season after losing the starting point guard spot six games into the season.
This time, there was no comeback.
Notable
Next up: Wednesday at home against Colorado State in a rare 7:30 p.m. tip (CBS Sports Network), then on the road again Saturday at Utah State for another CBS game, this one at 10 a.m. PST … The officiating crew was as highly regarded as at Grand Canyon (when all three were in the top 11 of the Kenpom ref ratings) but better than what SDSU has received most of the conference season: Edwin Young (52), Andy O’Brien (93) and Scott Brown (165) … The lower bowl at 18,000 capacity Thomas & Mack was about half full, with a smattering of fans in the upper deck.